Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page via AP
Thai Navy SEALs and international divers worked together to rescue four boys trapped in the Thai caves on Sunday.
- The first four boys have been rescued from the cave in Thailand where their soccer team has been trapped for two weeks.
- The Thai Navy SEALs, who are leading the rescue mission with divers and help from other countries, are posting encouraging messages on their Facebook page.
- A photo the Thai Navy SEALs posted shows three rescue workers grabbing each other by the arms in a show of unity.
The first four boys who have been stuck in a cave in Thailand for two weeks were heroically rescued on Sunday.
Before, during, and after the rescue, the Thai Navy SEALs leading the rescue mission kept people updated by posting encouraging messages on their Facebook page.
Right before the rescue mission started, the Navy SEALs posted a picture on their Facebook page of three people grabbing each other by the arms. According to the AP, the caption on the photo refers to the name of the boys' soccer team and says "We, the Thai team and the international team, will bring the Wild Boars home."
On Sunday night, the Navy SEALS confirmed on their Facebook page that four of the children had been rescued. They posted that "the 4th Wild Boar is out of the cave" and was rescued at 7:47 p.m. local time. A previous post from a few minutes earlier noted that the 3rd boy had been rescued.
A post following the rescue of the first four boys combined Thai and English. According to Facebook's translation, the post begins by saying "have a good dream tonight." That Thai is followed by, in English, "Hooyah," a morale-boosting word used by the US Navy.
According to the Guardian, the mission includes 40 Thai divers and 50 international divers with teams from Australia, the US, the UK, and China aiding in the efforts.
A former Thai Navy SEAL died on Friday while placing oxygen tanks in the cave in preparation for the rescue.
Officials said the operation would return on Monday to begin rescuing the eight other boys of the Wild Boars soccer team and their 25-year-old coach. Rescuing all 13 members of the soccer team could take days to complete, depending on the rainfall.